Implied Contracts and Breach of Contract in High

Implied Contracts and Breach of Contract in High

Posted By
Mahir S. Nisar, P.C.

The Supreme Court of Westchester County recently heard the very interesting case of
Alissa S. v. Manhattanville College – an interesting case bringing into issue the exact nature of the
relationship between a student and his or her institution of higher education.
There is a long tradition of students suing their college or university
over a variety of matters, and as we shall see here, the essential theories
of many of these lawsuits have been premised in contract law principles.

Background of the Case

Alissa S. (hereafter “The Student”) was enrolled at Manhattanville
College (hereafter “The College”) to get her Master’s
degree in teaching. Part of the requirement was to do a certain amount
of supervised teaching at a local school – in other words, to be
what is known as a student teacher.

The judicial record is silent on exactly what happened in the classroom,
but at any rate the College sent the Student a notice saying that her
conduct during her student teaching at the local school was completely
unprofessional and inappropriate and furthermore that her teaching skills
were inadequate. For all of these reasons, the College was issuing the
Student a failing grade of “F.” The letter from the College’s
Associate Dean went on to say that because of a pattern of unprofessional
conduct the Student would no longer be allowed to enroll in any further
education courses at the College.

The Student successfully appealed this decision, and the College gave her
a second chance to do her student teaching. However, there continued to
be trouble and the College once again gave the student a grade of “F”
for poor conduct and refused to recommend her for certification as a teacher.
Once again, the record before us is largely silent as to what this questionable
conduct by the Student actually was.

One thing led to another, and the Student eventually became the plaintiff
in the case before us. One of the plaintiff’s primary allegations
is breach of contract, which is an interesting theory to say the least,
because there was no express written contract entered into by the student
and college that was exactly on point to this lawsuit.

Colleges and Contractual Liability

The court turned its discussion to the idea of an implied contract between
a student and her college. Articulating the New York standard the court
said that when admitted, an implied contract arises: if the student follows
all of the college’s rules and procedures and comports with academic
standards (including passing all required classes, etc) then the college
will award the appropriate degree sought. The case cited is
Olson v. Board of Higher Ed.However New York courts have historically shown a reluctance to get involved
in actual matters of academic standards – citing a degree of deference
to the professional judgment of these institutions, which they view as
specialized and especially capable of making academic standards decisions.
Cases like this, involving how a student’s qualifications are evaluated,
receive a great deal of deference. There is a long discussion, but it
boils down to the idea that a university, in granting a degree, is certifying
to the world that a student meets certain minimum standards, and this
certification (in the form of diplomas, professional degrees, etc) is
something in which society places a great deal of trust.

Analysis

Universities are not completely immune from judicial review. However the
breach of contract action fails for several reasons. The University gave
plaintiff two chances to complete the training, and then a chance to get
a different, but related, teaching degree. Going back to the contractual
thinking mentioned above, the University gave the student ample chance
to comply with any implied contract – and she failed to do so. The
one remaining applicable question is whether the University acted in an
arbitrary, unfair, or capricious way in giving her a failing grade. However,
such a question is not proper for a breach of contract case, it should
be brought as a CPLR Article 78 proceeding – and in this case, such
a claim would be time-barred by the 4-month statute of limitations.

When student-university relationships go sour, the ensuing litigation is
often premised on breach of an implied contract. It is imperative to retain
counsel experienced in these matters. Please do not hesitate to
contact our office for a consultation.